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ok so i took out the oem radio out of my e30 and was all psyched about installing the new deck i picked up...but realized that the wiring is all weird and it really makes no sense to me...i've done many searches and ppl just say it's easier to rewire the whole thing...

i'm against paying ppl to do shit for me if there's any chance i can do it myself...

keep in mind i'm not an electronics expert but i would like to try to do the rewiring myself.

anybody have any tips on doing this...or maybe even have a simpler way of hooking up the deck without rewiring?

-removed factory deck
-removed factory amp
-ran new wires to the front, connected behind the kick panels; easy
-ran the rear speaker wires from the new deck to four factory wires that go to the rear amp
-at the rear amp location, find those same four wires, cut them, and run new short lines to each rear speaker

Honestly, it is probably easier just to remove the trim panels along the pass door(s) and run two new wires into the rear area instead of my wire-saving technique.

If you have factory tweeters be careful, you might find that they are grounded on the neg side, in which case you'll need to rewire them inside the front door while you're at it.

Just take your time and remember that it's simply two wires to each speaker. Once you ignore all the other crap, running four doubled wires to each is easy.

you really dont have to rewire
i wired up using stock wires. but i reqwired in my other e30 cuz prev. owener butchered the shit out fo the wires.

you're only using the +front right and the + front left speaker wires.
thats it. besides power antennga and ground of course. the brown wire is ground. then white/blue stripe i think is antenna, and the solid blue and solid white wires are your speaker connecters for the +front right and the + front left of the harness

edit: i think im dead wrong with the wire colors. but i know im correct when i say install aftermarket harness only using +front right and the + front left speaker wires of the stock wiring. ASSUMING YOU GOT THE STOCK AMP INSTALLED STILL.

Now, look in your trunk for the amplifier. Find these wires in the connector and connect them as shown:

(Note: There are two Black/Brown wires listed. They do not connect together. Connect them temporarily to test. If you have no sound out of your rear speakers, swap them and make your connection permanent.)

The front speakers. You need to run new wires to the front speakers from the headunit. (easier than rewiring the whole car, remember that) I will give you the wire colors at the back of the speakers to cut and connect to your new wire from the headunit.

The part that made it easier for me was that it already had a deck but not an MP3-capable one so I installed my Eclipse I had lying around.

I only used 8 wires. Power, switched power, ground, amp/pwr antenna (to turn on the factory amp and my amp), and 4 speaker '+' wires. Didn't use the negative side of the speaker wires coming from the deck. It works but the speakers are a little shitty. I don't care, the thing is my winter beater/track toy so the radio and stuff is all going to come out in the spring anyway.